Samsung SDS, ABN AMRO to Link Blockchains in Europe’s Largest Shipping Port

Samsung SDS has announced  its collaboration with ABN AMRO, one of the three largest banks in the Netherlands, and Rotterdam Port Authority, Europe’s largest shipping port by freight volume, for a logistics blockchain pilot.

This Blockchain pilot will track the shipment of a container from a factory in Korea to the Netherlands through the Port of Rotterdam.

The pilot will involve the linking of Nexledger, Samsung’s enterprise blockchain, and ABN AMRO’s Corda platform, developed by New York-based industry firm R3.

ABN AMRO claims the ‘special’ project brings two different blockchains togetherSamsung ‘for the first time in the rather short history of this technology’, adding ‘this takes place via an overarching ‘notary’ that connects entirely separate blockchains in Korea and the Netherlands.’

Traditionally, an international trade finance transaction involving shipments sees payments, administration and the physical transportation of containers occur in separate flows with a paper-intensive manual process. “We will be integrating all these flows in our pilot: from workflow management combined with track & trace to the digitisation of paper documentation such as waybills and the financing of handled freight or services,” ABN AMRO’s commercial banking chief Daphne de Kluis explained.

The banking executive envisions “millions of euros” of savings in the long-term due to enhanced efficiency and transparency from blockchain-powered logistics chains.

The blockchain pilot will be entirely paperless and will electronically confirm receipt and payment of the trade alongside real-time sharing of documents that are viewable by the shipper, receiver and port operator.

The three parties, including the port of Rotterdam, will conduct the pilot in January.